The present invention relates to a laminate for a window or other opening covering, or divider, such as a vertical blind, window shade or a screen, to assemblies including the laminate, and to vertical blind slats, and assemblies and components thereof.
Heretofore, material which was not free-hanging as a vertical blind slat such as a fabric or strand material and which was to be used as a vertical blind slat or as part of a vertical blind slat, was treated chemically to make it free hang, was secured with or without chemical treatment directly to a vertical blind slat member such as an aluminum slat member, or glued to an opaque backing such as paper which was in turn secured to the slat member. By free hanging it is meant that a material or member hangs as a vertical blind slat without the aid of a support such as a supportive backing. Examples of free-hanging members are aluminum and PVC vertical blind slat members and examples of free-hanging materials are some woven and non-woven fabrics with and without chemical treatment.
It is difficult to secure a loosely-woven or non-woven fabric or strand material to a slat member because of the difficulty in maintaining the material in a desired configuration as it is being secured to the slat member, and chemical treatment of such a material often results in an encapsulation of the material so as to reduce or eliminate the surface dimension or texture of the material. Moreover, only a limited number of slat assemblies of different appearance were available because both slat members and coverings for the slat members such as material on backing were available in only a limited number of colors and patterns.